what are the pros and cons of using particle systems when simulating smoke/fire?
One reason for particles is that you can control the smoke flow even more. Think of boids e.g. which cannot be done directly. Also the forces are sometimes difficult to handle and the result can only be guessed, so you have to tweak values, bake it again and check, whether the result is useful. Particles react with more granularity and the results are better reproducible and much faster to produce - i think.